Electrical failure or malfunction is a factor in 45,000 to 50,000 home fires annually – fires which kill approximately 455 people a year. Those sobering figures are from the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Home Electrical Fires report , which said electrically-caused fires account for 13 percent of total home structure fires.

The Fire Sprinkler Initiative, a project of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), has created a presentation highlighting the dangers of lightweight construction and the corresponding benefits of home fire sprinklers. Lightweight construction began to appear 25 years ago.

Workrite Uniform Company, Inc., a leading provider of flame-resistant (FR) workwear worldwide, is taking their FR garment certifications to a new level of safety: certifying a wide variety of garments to the NFPA 2112 standard and accompanying those certified garments with a visible external label—the first FR garment provider to do so.

From occupational links to adult asthma to SDS template for retailers to cutbacks at OSHA, here are the week’s top EHS-related stories from ISHN.com:

The Safety Equipment Institute (SEI) has announced that the first certifications have been issued to the new NFPA criteria for fire service Thermal Imagers, NFPA 1801, Standard on Thermal Imagers for the Fire Service, 2013 Edition. The revised NFPA 1801 standard was issued by the NFPA Standards Council on May 29, 2012, with an effective date of June18, 2012.

While a warm home and a hot meal on a cold winter’s day may conjure up thoughts of safety and security, the unfortunate reality is that winter is the leading time of year for home fires in the United States (U.S.). That’s why the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) have teamed up to help prevent home fires in the winter months.

How many strands of mini string lights can you safely connect? How many inches should you cut from the base of a fresh-cut Christmas tree before placing it in water? Not really sure? Then it’s time to sharpen your holiday fire safety smarts with information and resources from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Ashburn Hill Corp., manufacturer of TECGEN SELECT® Brand Flame-Resistant Garments, is pleased to announce that each of their current products are now National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 2112 certified.

Answers provided by Hamed Khoshniat, Safety Officer, Safety and Fire Fighting Department, NIOPDC. Hamed is an expert training courses instructor with seven years of experience in the field of oil and gas safety matters.hamedkhoshniat@yahoo.co.uk